The Cool Kids

And so, we begin Lent again, dirty faced Christians clip, clop, clopping along the rocky path with gravel in our sandals while all the cool kids whiz by on the blacktop in air-conditioned comfort. What is wrong with us?? Are we just naturally gloomy people? Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for this week's sermon, "The Cool Kids", by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Whistling in the Dark

Today is Transfiguration Sunday. How do we bring this first bookend of Lent into our 21st Century, left-brained, analytic understanding? Are we so smart there's no room left in our understanding for the Transfiguration? And if so, what hope do we have of confronting the Resurrection? Join Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon on the Transfiguration and the need to confront it with integrity, titled "Whistling in the Dark" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Demons

Can it be said of contemporary America that we live in a civilized country? Listening to the political ads on television, I confess that I would not automatically answer, "yes". What I hear is a deeply polarized election season in which one politician can actually demonize another by hurling the word "moderate" at him. Moderate is bad? Tolerance, forbearance, forgiveness and respect are bad? The Internet permits each of us to hear only the political positions we prefer, thus emphasizing in our minds the righteousness of our cause and the Satanic fury of those opposing us. And so we demonize, then live in a world of demons of our own creation, wringing our hands that our world is so full of demons. We seem to have lost the art of dealing with our enemies with compassion. Two people who have the art are a slave girl in Syria, and a freed Slave in Ohio. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon from the healing of Naaman in 2 Kings, title "Demons", by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Birds on a Wire

We live in a time in which we know a great deal about the structure of the universe. We can squint back to the very beginning of time. We can perceive atoms and their interactions. We even know what causes the fizz in bicarbonate of soda. The one thing we have turned our backs on is the foundation upon which all the magnificence of the universe sits. We in the Christian tradition understand this foundational Alpha and Omega to be God. In popular imagination, though, speculating about God seems somehow fantasy-like. I can't think so. I think we are like birds, hunkered down upon a power line, unaware of the power and potential coursing beneath our feet. Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte and see how Hamlet, his friend Horatio, and cow pats come together in our sermon, "Birds on a Wire" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Specialist

We often think of "call" as applying to ministers. A minister is "called" to this church or that ministry, but I think the term is more widely applicable. I think all of us are called to situations in which the individual called, and ONLY that individual, can successfully heal that particular wound in God's Creation. Such a guy was Jonah, called by God to preach a word of repentance to Nineveh, capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Jonah eventually did, and to everyone's surprise, the Ninevites listened. And they weren't even Jews! Join us for this week's sermon from Jonah 3 and Mark 1, entitled "The Specialist" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Bob, the Brick

How do you view your place within God's creation, and your relationship to God? What do you think about suffering you have endured? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon, "Bob, the Brick" from I Samuel 1:1-10 and John 1:43-51 by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Baptism of Our Lord

Today we celebrate the baptism of our Lord. And as soon as we start celebrating, we start asking questions. Why did Jesus need to be baptized? It's year B, so we are reading from Mark in the Revised Common Lectionary, and Mark doesn't give an answer to this question, leaving us to dig for it ourselves. I turned to Bart Simpson of the Simpsons for an answer after speaking with a bunch of idiots. Come see what I mean with our sermon, "The Baptism of Our Lord", by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.